On sacred ground: social identity and churchyard burial in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, C. 700-1100 AD

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The bioarchaeology of Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire: present and future perspectives

The Anglo-Saxon period in Yorkshire - in terms of our knowledge of those questions which bioarchaeological studies are conventionally used to address - remains very much an unknown quantity, We can hardly claim even to know whether these questions are indeed appropriate in the Anglo-Saxon period. To some extent this reflects the nature of the Anglo-Saxon deposits so far encountered, in which preservation of the less durable organic remains has been very limited. The nature of Anglo-Saxon occupation, with a bias towards rural settlements of a kind whicb have generally left only faint traces in the ground, means that there are no deeply stratified richly organic deposits of the kind revealed in some Roman and Viking Age phases in major urban centres, of which only York is weIl known in the region. The Anglo-Saxon period thus presents exceptional challenges to the environmental archaeologist, and ones which closely parallel those for the Iron Age. It is a period for which the kind of assemblages traditionally provided by bioarchaeologica1 studies are most urgently needed, to define environment and land use, resource exploitation, living conditions, trade and exchange, as well as aspects of craft-working and industrial activities. In addition, the period in Yorkshire presents special problems concerning the status of individual rural or ecclesiastical settlements, particularly the nature of York as a possible wic. For the purposes of this paper (and in view of the complexities of the archaeology of the 5th to 11th centuries), we have elected to discuss only such biological material as .falls after the end of the Roman period (as generally accepted) and before the first significant waves of Scandinavian invasion in the mid 9th century

Development of a Cycling Policy for York Technical Report

In early 1983 York City Council and North Yorkshire County Council commissioned the Institute for Transport Studies to carry out a study of cycling in York. The terms of reference were to: Include an origin and destination survey of current movements by trip purpose and an assessment of future demand, indicating the likely mode from which any transfer will occur; Identify problem areas following discussions with various cycling groups and a study of accident statistics; Take into consideration any previous decisions of the City Council for investigation; Assess the appropriateness of the recommended standards for cycle facilities to a compact urban area; Propose various solutions to problems where appropriate, assess the effect on other road users, and formulate a basic cycling plan for York. Propose various solutions to problems where appropriate, assess the effect on other road users, and formulate a basic cycling plan for York. The Institute for Transport Studies at the Univeristy of Leeds was appointed to carry out the study with Professor A.D. May as the Director of the Study and Mr. D.A. Waring as Research Engineer. Work commenced on this project in June 1983 and was completd in May 1984. The recommendations arising from the study are contained in a separate Summary Report, available from the Institute as Working Paper 175

Bones as evidence of meat production and distribution in York

[First Paragraphs] Many books and papers have been written on the general principles and minutiae of using the animal bones recovered from archaeological deposits as a source of information on past diet.A full discussion of methodological issues is beyond the remit of this chapter, but it is worth reminding ourselves that there are many stages between an animal being killed and used for food, and a pile of bones arriving on the bench. There is the initial stage of decision-making on the part of the human population, and of individuals within it, and possibly on the part of the animals as well. Those decisions bring people and animaIs together ar the point of the animals' death, and may well be what we are seeking to infer from the archaeological record. After slaughter, animals of any size will be butchered in various ways, and parts of one carcass may be traded or redistributed to several locations, at each of which different people will take further decisions as to recipe and utilization. Some bones will have been separared from the carcass during initial butchering, and will be disposed of fairly immediately. After consumption (and different individuals will have different ideas as to what is worth eating), the remaining bones and other waste might be used in some orher way (soup, glue, toothpicks), before being destroyed or deposited in some dump or refuse pit. Micro-organisms and geochemical agents then set to work, modifying and destroying some or all bone fragments through the centuries, until a residue reaches a tenuous equilibrium with the sediment around it, and survives until the archaeologists arrive on site

Animal bones from Anglo-Scandinavian York

INTRODUCTION: This chapter provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding vertebrate animals in and around York in the Anglo-Scandinavian period. The great majority of the available evidence derives from 16-22 Coppergate (AY 15/3), with smaller amounts of data from a number of excavations around the city. The aim is not to describe the data at length, but to review the information inferred from those data under several thematic headings. Examination of the material from Coppergate began as the excavation neared its end, early in the 1980s. At that time, our knowledge of urban zooarchaeology in Britain rested on just a few major studies (e.g. Exeter, Maltby 1979; Southampton, Bourdillon and Coy 1980; Baynards Castle, London, Armitage 1977), and little or nothing was known about Anglo-Scandinavian husbandry. The intervening 30 years has seen the publication of many substantial assemblages from 8th- to 15th century urban contexts across northern Europe (e.g. Birka, Ericson et al. 1988; Ribe, Hatting 1991; Waterford, McCormick 1997; Lubeck, Rheingans and Reichstein 1991; Compiegne, Yvinec 1997). With that increasing information has come some shift in emphasis from data such as the relative abundance of different taxa and changes through time, to more thematic questions of supply and demand, and the value of animal bones in discussions on the emergence of towns and their associated social structures (e.g. Bourdillon 1984; O'Connor 1994; Crabtree 1990). This review therefore revisits previously published material, and incorporates additional data in a synthesis of evidence from York as a whole, and in regional comparisons. Practical methods are not discussed at length here: they are detailed by site in the appropriate fascicules of AY 15/1-5, and reviewed in AY 19/2

Preservasi Sisa Manusia dari All Saints Church Fishergate York, Inggris

Situs yang merupakan bekas gereja All Saints yang terletak di area Fishergate (York) ini dapat menjadi contoh situs yang memberikan informasi mengenai tingkat preservasi sisa manusia di wilayah Inggris. Ekskavasi tahun 2007-2008 berhasil menemukan ratusan individu yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini, dibantu dengan metode-metode yang berkaitan dengan statistik untuk mengetahui frekuensi dan indeks preservasi anatomis dari masing-masing individu. Metode-metode ini diharapkan dapat memberinformasi mengenai tingkat representasi dan preservasi elemen rangka serta mendapatkan informasi bagaimana faktor lokasi, periode penguburan, dan kategori usia serta jenis kelamin dapat mempengaruhi tingkat preservasi tersebut. Tingkat preservasi sisa manusia berkaitan erat dengan faktor-faktor seperti lokasi penguburan, kedalaman penguburan, dan juga usia mati individu yang bersangkutan. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa tulang-tulang panjang seperti tibia dan fibula memiliki tingkat preservasi yang tinggi yang dibutuhkan untuk bertahan dari gejalagejala tafonomi yang terjadi setelah penguburan. Kondisi ini dapat terjadi pada tulang yang berstruktur kuat dan berukuran besar, jika dibandingkan dengan tulang-tulang seperti tulang pergelangan tangan dan kaki, tulang-tulang jari, dan hyoid yang berukuran kecil. Analisis juga menunjukkan bahwa individu yang dikuburkan di areal dalam gereja memiliki tingkat preservasi yang lebih baik jika dibandingkan dengan individu yang dikuburkan di areal luar gereja. Individu-individu pada sampel yang berasal dari periode Romano-British menunjukkan tingkat preservasi yang lebih tinggi. Hal ini berkaitan dengan kedalaman letak kubur dari permukaan tanah. Sementara itu, perbandingan antara usia mati antara individu-individu sampel menunjukkan bahwa sisa individu berusia dewasa terpreservasi lebih baik jika dibandingkan dengan sisa individu yang berusia kanak-kanak. Penelitian mengenai tafonomi sisa manusia ini hanyalah bersifat penelitian tahap awal, sehingga ada baiknya dilakukan penelitian lebih lanjut

An Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery at Walkington Wold, Yorkshire

This paper presents a re-evaluation of a cemetery excavated over 30 years ago at Walkington Wold in east Yorkshire. The cemetery is characterized by careless burial on diverse alignments, and by the fact that most of the skeletons did not have associated crania. The cemetery has been variously described as being the result of an early post-Roman massacre, as providing evidence for a ‘Celtic’ head cult or as an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery. In order to resolve the matter, radiocarbon dates were acquired and a re-examination of the skeletal remains was undertaken. It was confirmed that the cemetery was an Anglo-Saxon execution cemetery, the only known example from northern England, and the site is set into its wider context in the paper

The influence of chronic conditions and the environment on pubertal development. An example from medieval England

Adolescence is a unique period in human development encompassing sexual maturation (puberty) and the physical and psychological transition into adulthood. It is a crucial time for healthy development and any adverse environmental conditions, poor nutrition, or chronic infection can alter the timing of these physical changes; delaying menarche in girls or the age of peak height velocity in boys. This study explores the impact of chronic illness on the tempo of puberty in 607 adolescent skeletons from medieval England (AD 900-1550). A total of 135 (22.2%) adolescents showed some delay in their pubertal development, and this lag increased with age. Of those with a chronic condition, 40.0% (n=24/60) showed delay compared to only 20.3% (n=111/547) of the non-pathology group. This difference was statistically significant. A binary logistic regression model demonstrated a significant association between increasing delay in pubertal stage attainment with age in the pathology group. This is the first time that chronic conditions have been directly associated with a delay in maturation in the osteological record, using a new method to assess stages of puberty in skeletal remains

An archaeology of trade in eastern england,c.650-900 CE

The project was an examination of trade through the regional survey and analysis of archaeological data from middle Saxon England. Much previous work had focused towards long-distance trade articulated through urban ports, and the thesis aimed to provide new methods for the study of the early medieval economy by placing these urban settlements within a regional setting. It examined trade within regions as a whole, rather than concentrating only on the archaeologically most visible, i.e. long-distance trade. A comparative, study area approach was adopted for analysis, with two regions (Kent and Yorkshire) chosen. Methodology was based on both detailed analysis of artefact distributions throughout the middle Saxon period, and comparative examination of individual site assemblages. As a result, networks of trade, and the movement of goods could be assessed, and individual sites placed within this context. Specific artefact groups were chosen which highlighted different aspects of trade (coinage, pottery, stone artefects, and metalwork), and other materials, both archaeological and historical, were utilised wherever possible. Both study areas were also discussed in the context of middle Saxon eastern England, in order to provide a broader interpretation of early medieval trade. These analyses showed that the early medieval economy was more complex than has been previously proposed, with distinct regional variations apparent. A number of sites were interpreted as inland markets, their positions suggestive of an overall political control of trade, and most coin rich sites were located close enough to the coast to easily gain direct access to long-distance coastal trade. The church may have been heavily involved. Much trade appears to have been centred around the movement of utilitarian goods, including stone, foodstuffs, salt and slaves, and royal interest in the regulation of trade focused on the large revenues available through tolls